Pet Insurance For Older Dogs compare cover from the best UK providers and save up to 20%

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Things to consider when you compare pet insurance for older dogs

Buying pet insurance is complicated enough, but if you're looking to insure an older dog, then it can be even more complicated. You will find below a guide of important things to consider when comparing cover.

 

Excess on vet fees: fixed or variable?

As pets get older they get more likely to fall ill or suffer an accident. This means that insurers are more likely to pay out claims. To counter that, they can either increase the premium or introduce a percentage excess.

A percentage excess is generally applied on top of your normal fixed excess. For instance, with More Than, the excess for senior dogs is £100+10% of the bill. So if you claim for £500, you first have to pay £100 excess and then 10% of the remaining £400, which is £40. Your total excess is therefore of £140. The bigger the vet bill the bigger the excess. Also, a fixed excess is generally applied per condition while a percentage excess is generally applied per claim. So if you claim more than once for the same condition, you will have to pay another percentage of the vet bill.

Fortunately, some pet insurance providers still offer both a good price and a fixed excess for older dogs. But sometimes you will have to make a decision about what comes first: cheaper premium and higher excess or more expensive premium and low, fixed excess?

 

Compare how the excess can make a world of difference for your finances

	Fixed £100 excess	£75 + 15% of the bill excess
Claim total	£1,000	£1,000
Total excess	£100	£213.75 (£75 + £138.75)
Reimbursement to you	£900	£786.25

 

Complementary and alternative treatments: how many and how much covered?

Treating an older dog can sometimes prove quite a challenge. As they age, they are often less likely to fully recover from standard veterinary care and other approaches must be considered. That’s why it’s very important to make sure that complementary therapies and alternative treatments are covered. The question is: how many of these treatments are covered and within which limit?

Which alternative treatments to look for:

• Hydrotherapy: often used to treat joints and muscular problems before or in place of an operation, sessions generally costs around £200 and should only be carried through a specialist.
• Acupuncture
• Physiotherapy

Make sure your pet insurance provider will cover at least these 3 treatments to a good amount because they are generally quite expensive and are often the only way to treat an older dog.

 

What type of policy for pet insurance for older dogs? 12-month, per condition, lifetime or accident only?

There are 4 main types of pet insurance for older dogs in the UK. They all pay claims in various ways so make sure you understand what you’re buying.

12-month: a condition is covered up to the maximum vet fees benefit and for a maximum of 12 months. Once the maximum amount or time limit is reached, you can’t claim for that condition anymore as it will be excluded from your policy.

Per condition: the vet fees limit is applied for each unrelated condition, illness or accident. There is no time limit for you to spend that money on vet fees for a specific condition as long as you stay with the same insurer. You could for instance spend £1,000 per year on diabetes for up to 7 years with More Than £7,000 per condition policy. Once the £7,000 is used, the condition becomes excluded from the policy.

Lifetime: lifetime pet insurance (also known as lifelong cover) will give you a yearly vet fees allowance, let’s say £7,000 with Marks and Spencer. This will be used for all your claims. Regardless of the number of conditions or accidents you may be claiming for, your yearly limit is £7,000. However, when you renew your policy with the same provider, you will get another £7,000 to spend on vet fees in year 2. This effectively provides continuous cover as ongoing conditions are never excluded once you start claiming on them.

Accident only: if budget is very important for you and if you only want to cover your dog for accidental injuries, you can consider an accident only pet insurance policy. This is offered by Animal Friends and only covers injuries caused by an accident. Illnesses are not covered but it provides cheap pet insurance cover for older dogs.

 

Other important things to consider when you compare pet insurance for older dogs

Pay the vet direct: make sure your insurer can pay the vet direct. This will save you the hassle of paying the vet a huge amount up front and wait for the bill to be reimbursed by your insurer. Remember that your vet needs to agree to this first and that you will still need to settle the excess with them.

Star rating: we've tried to make it easier for you to compare older dog insurance at a glance with our star ratings. We've taken into account the type of cover and vet fees benefit amount as well as the excess (whether it's fixed or not) and cover levels for complementary and alternative treatments.

 

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